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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Player Who Became a Constellation
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Prologue
"For Valhalla!"
A roar echoed through the air.
"Glory to the great Asgard—!"
Hundreds of thousands of armored warriors raised their weapons high.
And that wasn't all. At their side,
-Kieeeek!
ghouls crawled forth from the pits of hell.
『Grooooar!』
Giants charged forward.
In the twilight of the setting sun, one figure gazed upon his army.
Clad in pitch-black armor.
A fur-lined cape billowed as he gripped a golden spear.
The being wearing a helmet fashioned from a goat's skull flashed crimson eyes.
'How many years has it been since I came to this world.'
He had amassed countless experiences.
He had awakened alone on a remote island, transformed into the final boss of a game.
Knights and mages had come against him, driven by their own interests.
But look!
Their bodies lay buried in the earth, proving their courage nothing more than foolishness and arrogance!
Yet still, more gathered to subjugate him.
He looked ahead.
On the vast plain opposite, a brilliant light blazed forth.
The armies of light stood there.
Those who had banded together to slay him and now invaded his territory.
"Fools!"
No kingdom, no empire could halt his forces.
Any who blocked his path would find only ruin ahead!
"Brave ones—."
As he slammed his spear down, his armor writhed, black miasma rising like serpents.
"Show them what the Twilight of the Gods truly is—"
The black miasma took the form of snakes and wolves, howling fiercely.
"Make them see!"
Warriors and ghouls.
Giants all looked up at their supreme lord.
"My name is Loki."
In response to his call, they raised their weapons and bellowed cheers.
"I am the Constellation of the End who will unleash Ragnarok!"
Chapter 1
-Haa... haa...!
A girl ran breathlessly toward somewhere, gasping for air.
The Nod Tribe.
A clan that sustained itself through plunder, and the Ragna Tribe belonged to it.
This girl from the Ragna Tribe fled through the forest, wondering how it had come to this.
The village burned, its people slaughtered by armored raiders.
The weak's sorrow and the strong's joy mingled in their cries.
Her 15th birthday coming-of-age festival had turned to hell in an instant.
And now, she had no choice but to run toward the place she had always avoided.
-The devil lives there!
An old tale passed down among the Nod Tribe.
-He is the moon, the darkness, the constellation that rules death and sin!
Kankun, the running girl, felt her heart might burst.
-Offer your soul to him, and he will grant any wish!
Those were the words the Shaman had spoken to her on her 15th birthday.
How long had she run? An old man who looked over 70 appeared before her—one of the influential elders from the village.
"Ka... Kankun!"
The elder's eyes widened upon seeing her.
"There you are! Kudan brought in outsiders!"
Kankun stared at the elder with a frozen expression.
"U-Uncle...?"
A bear of a man, but with a soft heart.
The one who always smiled at her like his own daughter.
Kudan Ragnar.
Her uncle.
And now—that same man—
"It's rebellion!"
"...!"
"Kudan, that bastard Kudan started a rebellion! He brought mercenaries from outside and attacked the village—!"
"What are you saying? Why would Uncle bring mercenaries...?"
"Your father is dead too. W-We're all going to die now!"
"N-No way... Why would Uncle—!"
"Because of you!"
Kankun's face hardened.
The elder gripped her shoulders tightly.
"Ugh—!"
His grasp hurt so much it felt like her shoulders might tear.
"Y-You refused to become the sacrifice as the priest Shaman's oracle decreed, and that's why the village is like this!"
"..."
"You brought this disaster upon us!"
Kankun clamped her mouth shut.
-A child who will bring disaster!
She recalled the priest's words from her coming-of-age ceremony.
-Kankun, you will become the shrine maiden who serves him. So become the sacrifice and attend to him!
The elder drew a dagger from his robes.
"The Shaman was right!"
"W-Wait a moment..."
Kankun stepped back, but the elder held her shoulder with his right hand, preventing escape.
Her face drained of color.
"Y-You must die for this disaster to end—!"
That was when it happened.
Pfook—!
A massive arrow pierced the elder's chest, stopping right before Kankun's nose.
"Guh... ack—!"
The elder spat blood and turned, eyes bulging.
"Ku... Kudan...!"
With those words, he collapsed on the spot.
Kankun looked past the fallen elder to the man standing tall in the empty space beyond.
"...!"
A bearish build and iron-hard muscles.
A thick beard, a massive axe slung on his back.
In his hands, the greatbow that had just slain the elder.
Kankun knew who he was.
'Un... cle...?'
Kudan Ragnar.
The rebel who killed her father, massacred the elders—and her uncle.
Behind him stood the mercenaries who had slain her tribesmen.
Kankun paled as she stared at them.
She backed away, then turned and fled.
"Kankun—!"
Her uncle's furious voice rang out from behind.
Not the kind, gentle voice she knew.
It was excited, agitated.
"Chase her—!"
At his command, his men pursued Kankun.
Dashing through the forest, she lifted her head.
The place she headed to—
-Become the sacrifice and appease the devil's wrath!
The temple.
Where she had held her coming-of-age rite, the dwelling of the Constellation of Sin—or devil, as it was called.
She stepped into the temple grounds.
Passing the open gates, she ran down the long corridor lined with red carpet. At its end stood a figure.
An old man in ragged black robes.
The priest, Shaman.
Seeing him, Kankun pleaded.
Begged him to drive away the disaster, but Shaman only cackled madly, offering no real answer.
"She'll be hiding here!"
"Find her!"
The raiders' voices echoed from behind.
In the end, Kankun headed to where the devil was.
The king's grand throne room, steeped in majesty.
A massive bone throne, a spiraling goat skull.
The devil armored in jet-black, using it as a helmet.
And the sword plunged into the devil's heart.
Kankun cried out to the devil.
"Please... Constellation of Sin! Take my soul if you must—I beg you. Save our villagers...!"
She offered her soul in exchange, pleading for him to stop her uncle and end this horrific massacre.
Bam!
Then, the doors burst open violently, and her uncle's raiders stormed the audience chamber.
"There she is!"
"Kudan's orders. Seize the girl!"
They approached Kankun, and as they did, she retreated toward the sealed 'devil' on the 'cursed throne'.
Shaman, who had followed, merely stepped aside without intervening.
Terrified, Kankun screamed at the devil.
"Please, I beg you...! Save us...!"
But the devil did not answer.
Even as she clutched its leg and begged, it remained motionless like a corpse.
She realized it: the thing before her was merely a 'model'...
"Enough of this, Kankun."
Then, the mastermind behind this atrocity entered the temple.
Kankun's uncle, Kudan Ragnar.
He strode boldly into the audience chamber.
He shouted to his men.
"What are you waiting for? Drag her out! We're leaving with Kankun!"
"...!"
Kankun's face went deathly pale.
Weapons—she needed a weapon!
She strained desperately to pull the sword from the devil.
"Trying to awaken the devil? Haha! Give it up. It's just superstition!"
Kudan's men mocked her.
Kankun ignored them.
Gods and devils meant nothing now. Better to fight her uncle and die honorably than be dragged off in shame!
But the sword wouldn't budge.
The raiders seized her from behind and bound her.
The men pinned her body completely.
She fell into despair.
"Shaman, forgive the disturbance. We have no intent to defile the temple, so show mercy."
The rebel Kudan Ragnar sought pardon from Shaman.
Even a rebel dared not offend a Nod Tribe priest.
"Do as you like. As long as you don't dirty the temple, I won't interfere with you."
At Shaman's permission, the raiders dragged Kankun away.
She couldn't avenge her father or save the villagers.
"No... please... no..."
The Nod warriors gripped her body and pulled her from the throne.
She resisted to the end, clinging to the sword's hilt.
Frustration and despair gnawed at her heart.
"P-Please..."
I beg you.
Anyone... save me...!
Tears of despair streamed from Kankun's eyes.
'Help me!'
That was when the sword came free.
"...!"
The Nod warriors froze in shock.
"N-No—!"
Shaman clutched his head and screamed.
"The devil... the Constellation of Sin awakens—!"
"...!"
A silence like terror blanketing the cursed temple descended.
All eyes turned to the devil on the throne... but nothing changed.
The Nod warriors sweated coldly in relief.
"Ha, haha! You got scared, huh?"
"D-Don't mess around. Who'd be scared? As if anyone believes that nonsense..."
The 'devil sealed for judging the gods' was mere legend.
The Nod warriors, furious at their own fear, took it out on Kankun.
They subdued her and slammed her to the floor.
Her arms, legs, and head pinned, she couldn't move.
'Help... me.'
Tears traced down her cheeks from her eyes. In her blurred vision, the devil reflected.
"P-Please... help me!"
As her despairing cry echoed through the chamber,
Deep within the helmet's darkness.
From the abyss...
Slowly, crimson eyes ignited.
...It awoke.
Someone murmured.
-Kieeeek!
Crack! Creak creak!!
The eerie wails of spirits filled the temple.
The devil, dormant for centuries, moved with gruesome sounds as if forcing its bones together.
It raised its head, twisting its body to loosen stiffened limbs.
The devil wasn't the only one to awaken.
The cursed temple trembled.
-Kieeeek!
Black currents suddenly filled the interior. They swirled around the devil on the throne, taking shapes of 'snakes' and 'wolves'.
Skeletal spirits clawed up from the floor as if emerging from hell.
"What the...?!"
"U-Undead!"
"Battle stations—everyone!"
The Nod warriors bellowed.
Panicked by the bizarre sight, they scrambled for their gear and gathered.
Kankun looked up at the devil.
It cracked its joints, moving its rigid body.
Red flames, like burning souls, blazed from its eyes and mouth.
—Grrrrr...
Ominous black miasma shaped as wolf and snake spewed forth, fused to the devil's armor as one.
They growled at the unfamiliar humans, as if with minds of their own.
The devil, their master, lifted its shrunken head, flashing red eyes.
The devil surveyed everyone in the chamber.
And then... it spoke words that would freeze hearts.
"Who... are you?"
In that moment, Kankun's despair turned to hope.